Search - Kurtag, Lutoslawski, Arditti String Quartet :: Chamber Music

Strange and exhilarating

Scott Spires | Prague, Czech Republic | 02/11/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Arditti Quartet plays the toughest modern music with unrivalled skill and commitment, as this rock-hard disc shows. The Kurtag pieces are epigrammatic microquartets, short and sharp enough to cut--no notes wasted here. The Gubaidulina quartet (her 2nd) is in one movement, narrowly focused and intense. It makes a virtue of monochromaticism. These are strong, solid pieces.The real highlight, though, is the Lutoslawski Quartet--at the moment, my favorite quartet of all time. It's in two movements: a fragmentary, stuttering introduction, followed by an explosive, expansive main movement that eventually achieves a kind of soulful mellowness. The binary scheme is typical for Lutoslawski, as is the liberal use of aleatoric (chance) techniques. There are some stunning passages in the second movement that sound as if the music is twisting, splintering, roaring, even rocketing off into space (the big central climax about 7-8 minutes in). Tough music, but great--a headbanging experience!The Ardittis don't just play this music, they make you believe in it. The notes are excellent, and the sound is very good."